Cobb gets $12,270 in separation deal

PRINCETON 
The town will pay former Fire Chief David F. Cobb $12,270.25 as part of a five-page separation agreement that the town and Mr. Cobb agreed to last month.

That is equivalent to approximately two months’ salary for the former chief, who was paid about $71,000 per year as the town’s first full-time fire chief. Mr. Cobb, who has been charged with stealing narcotics from the town’s ambulance, was placed on paid leave July 7, and then on unpaid leave Nov. 5. The agreement said Mr. Cobb left the town’s employment Nov. 19.

Mr. Cobb, 45, of 100 Cutler Road, in the Jefferson section of Holden, was arraigned in October on one count of larceny of a drug and one count of obtaining drugs by fraud. The charges are pending in district courts in Worcester and Gardner.

The investigation into the alleged theft began earlier this year. Pharmacists at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester and Heywood Hospital in Gardner notified state police that “excessive amounts of narcotics were being dispensed to the Princeton Fire Department,” according to a state police report included in court records. State police conducted an audit of the narcotics being dispensed to the Princeton Fire Department and found that varying amounts of Fentanyl, morphine, Valium and Versed were unaccounted for. Mr. Cobb was the primary record-keeper of narcotics for the Princeton Fire Department, and he had signed out the drugs that were dispensed from the two hospitals, the report said.

As part of the agreement, the town and Mr. Cobb agree to refrain from adverse comments regarding the situation. The town also agreed not to oppose Mr. Cobb’s claim for unemployment compensation. The town did not release Mr. Cobb’s letter of resignation, citing the privacy exemption in the state public records law.

Mr. Cobb was the town’s first full-time fire chief and served as the town’s emergency management director. He was appointed in January. The Board of Selectmen chose John Bennett to serve as acting fire chief.

In a statement released Nov. 27, Town Administration John Lebeaux said the town intended to begin the search for a new fire chief quickly. Selectmen will likely select members of a search committee at their Jan. 2 meeting.